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Harry S. Truman Papers Staff Member and Office Files: White House Press Release Files

Dates: 1945-1953

This set of White House Press Releases was compiled in White House staff aid George Elsey's office, beginning in about 1949. The press releases and other materials in this file were intended to be edited for publication in a projected series of volumes of the public papers of the Truman presidency. Although the Government eventually published Truman's public papers, the Government's editors did not use this file of press releases.

[Administrative Information | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 4 linear feet, 5 linear inches (8,000 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: President Truman donated his copyright interest in any of his writings in his papers to the people of the United States. In addition, documents prepared by United States Government employees in the course of their official duties are also in the public domain.
Processed by: Mary Sue Luff, Raymond Geselbracht, Erwin Mueller, Randy Sowell, and Anita Smith (1993); Cynthia Edwards and David Clark (2000); David Clark and Jan Davis (2014).


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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The press releases and other materials in the White House Press Release Files were compiled in George Elsey's office, beginning in 1949, and were intended to be edited for publication in a projected series of volumes of the public papers of the Truman presidency. On September 9, 1949 President Truman approved Elsey's recommendation that a series of volumes of his presidency's public papers be prepared. The series was to be patterned on Samuel I. Rosenman's edition of the public papers of Roosevelt's presidency. Elsey himself was to be the series editor. Elsey asked Jack Romagna, The White House Official Reporter, to send to his office transcripts of Truman's press conferences and copies of his speeches as actually delivered. The materials in this collection which are primarily press releases, are presumably those that Romagna sent to Elsey, and later, after his departure from the White House staff in December 1951, to Eben Ayers, to whom Elsey gave the presidential papers project. This compilation of press releases and a few other documents was never used for its intended purpose. Although the Government eventually published Truman's public papers in a series of volumes that appeared between 1961 and 1966, the editors compiled their own set of press releases and other documents for inclusion or listing in these volumes.

The White House issued press releases for most of the President's formal and informal remarks; of his Executive Orders and Proclamations; of his messages and reports to Congress; of selected items of administration correspondence, much of it concerning resignations and appointments; of selected reports produced within the administration; of other presidential documents; and, occasionally, of statements made by other members of the administration than the President.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-10

  WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE FILES, 1945-1953
This series contains press releases, transcripts of Truman's radio addresses, memoranda, copies of published reports submitted to Congress, and newspaper clippings. Some of the press releases have hand written changes and marginal notes. The press releases are arranged chronologically.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE FILES, 1945-1953

Box 1

Box 2

Box 3

Box 4

Box 5

Box 6

  • April 1949
  • May 1949
  • June 1949
  • July 1949
  • August 1949
  • September 1949
  • October 1949
  • November 1949
  • December 1949
  • January 1950
  • February 1950

Box 7

  • March 1950
  • April 1950
  • May 1950
  • June 1950
  • July 1950
  • August 1950
  • September 1950
  • October 1950

Box 8

  • November 1950
  • December 1950
  • January 1951
  • February 1951
  • March 1951
  • April 1951
  • May 1951
  • June 1951
  • July 1951
  • August 1951

Box 9

  • September 1951
  • October 1951
  • November 1951
  • December 1951
  • January 1952
  • February 1952
  • March 1952
  • April 1952
  • May 1952
  • June 1952
  • July 1952

Box 10

  • August 1952
  • September 1952
  • October 1952
  • November 1952
  • December 1952
  • January 1953
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